Palace thanks Filipinos for
‘tremendous success’ of ASEAN Summit
MANILA — Malacañang has extended its gratitude to all Filipinos for
their contribution to the “tremendous success” of the Philippines’ hosting
of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in a press briefing Thursday, said
the country’s Chairmanship of ASEAN 2017 was generally peaceful, orderly,
and fruitful, owing to the Filipino people’s support and cooperation.

“We’d like to thank everyone, most especially the Filipino people, for the
support and cooperation [in] making this event peaceful, orderly, fruitful,
and very much a success,” Roque said.

He stressed that the success of the momentous event is indicative of
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s ability to lead the country towards global
recognition.

“The world community now recognizes not only the fact that the Philippine
President is not just the President of the Philippines, a leader of
Southeast Asia, but a recognized leader in the international community,” he
said.

“And they have also given notice that the Philippines is able to competently
host a bidding, a meeting of this scale and scope. And the fact that there
was no untoward incident proves that the Philippines is safe to visit,” he
added.

This year’s ASEAN Summit also set in motion a number of constructive
negotiations among ASEAN member states and their dialogue partners, the
Cabinet official noted.

For one, Roque cited discussions during the Summit, which led to an
agreement between ASEAN and China to start formal talks on the Code of
Conduct (COC) in the West Philippine Sea. The talks are set to commence
early next year, he announced.

Roque described this as a “milestone agreement,” stressing that this was the
first time claimant countries have agreed to start formal discussions on a
CoC that is expected to be legally binding.

“I think all the parties want it to be somehow legally binding. Otherwise,
if it’s merely aspirational,” Roque said. “I think that was a priority of
the President because unless it becomes legally binding, we would not
achieve the kind of predictability that all the countries want in order to
achieve peace and stability in the region,” he added.

Roque added that there is now easing of tensions in the disputed territories
due to the countries’ willingness to adopt a more peaceful resolution to the
conflict.

The Philippines for its part remains open to conducting bilateral talks with
other claimant states, including China, the Spokesperson noted.

“President Duterte has been consistent that he is open to bilateral talks as
far as resolving the conflict is concerned. He has said it time and again
that he does not see any utility in talking to third parties who are not
parties to the conflict,” Roque said. (PCO-Content)